Washing-machine-operating mechanism



March 30 {1 926. [1,578,564

W. H. VOSS WASHING MACHINE OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 10, 1920 sSheets-Sheet 2 hm... lel o o 0 4'3 2 a I 1 a i vZ2 w 25 Z .27

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W. H. V055 WASHING MACHINE OPERATING MECHAN ISM Filed Dec. 10, 1920 v igsneets sheet s mull lllll/Il/nll chine operating mechanism and morePatented Mar. 30, 1926. I

, UNITED STATES PATENT' OFFICE.

ILLIAM 111'- voss, or DAVENPORT, IOWA.

WASHING-MACHIKE-OPERATING mncnamsm.

Application filed December 10, 1920. Serial No. 429,615.

To aZl whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IVILLIAM H. Voss, a citizen of the United States,residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott and State 6 of Iowa, haveinvented certainvnew and useful Improvements inVVashing-Machine-Opcrating Mechanism, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to washing ma- P ticularly to an improved clutchadapted to reduce as much aspossible the shocks incident to starting'andstopping-the washer; and such further objects, advantages andcapabilities as will later more fully appear.

30 clutc 0 wood or other suitable material.

My invention further resides in the combination, constructlon andarrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawmgs, and While-I have shown therein a preferred embodiment I desire the same tobe'understood as illustrative only and not as limiting my invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is an end elevation 'of a washingmachine,

showing my improvements applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan'view of the machine shown in Fig. 1 to shOWthe arrangement of my improvements. p

Fi 3 is a longitudinal section of the and mechanism associatedtherewith.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 3 when viewedfrom the left in said figure.

Fig. 5 is an inside face view of the cone member shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

I have found that washing machines heretofore constructed, and moreparticularly machines of the oscillating tub type, have a tendencywhen-starting or stopping to ]6Ik the machine excessively, making itunpleasant to operate the machine, besides being very hard on themachineitself. Tlns d fiiculty I haveovercome by inserting a friction clutchbetween the driving and drivenmech- 5 anisms, my new clutch being shownin detail in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The frame member of my machine comprisesa pair of cross bars 1 and 2, to which 'are suitably secured insulatingblocks of o In the resent instance these blocks are shown as being heldin place by means of a metallic clampingmem "er 3 and a second metallicclamping member, (not shown), below cross bar 2, though they may besecured directly to the frame. 7 Journa-lled in these. blockstherethrough.

is a shaft 5, on which is mounted the motor bracket 6. This brackethasan extension arm 7 at its lower end, to which is secured one end of aspring 8, the other end of the spring being secured to an insulating bar9, preferably of wood. Another bar 10 is securedto the diagonal. braces11, and through these two bars passes a bolt -12 .havlng means forreadily adjusti11g:.tl1e tension of the spring 8, this being possible.by

reason of the fact that one end of the bar 9 is pivoted as shown at 13.It will therefore be'seen that when the nut on bolt '12" I on a shaft24, by means of which a wringer also passing over ashaft is driven. Asshown inFig. 3- shaft 21 is provi'dedwith a spline or splines 25 toprevent the rotation of gears 20and 22.

These gears may either be rigidly secured to the shaft "and mayreciprocate-with it when', it is moved axially to cause the clutch toengage or be disengaged, or they may be provided with means to-pre'venttheir axial movement, therebycausing the shaft to slide Any desiredmeans may be used to accomplish this result, such, for example, as'kcrfs cut in the gear hubs and co-operating with projections rigidlycarried by a frame member. It will be obvious that if the gears movewith ,theshaft 21 the inter-meshing gears should have suflicient Widthso that the engaging faces of the gear teeth will have a substantialsurface in engagement, both when the clutch is thrown in and out.

"A pair of collars 26 is secured to shaft 21 intermediate its-ends andis engaged by the forked end 27 of a lever 28 mounted on frame cross-bar2 by means ofa-bracket 29. The tension of a spring 30 secured at one endto the frame and at its opposlte end to the lever 28 normally actuatesthe shaft 21v to the right as shown in'Fig. 3, thereby holding clutchcone 31 m engagement with the inner surface of chitchmember 32. Thebearing member 33, secured to the cross bar 2, normally supports shaft21 for rotation.

- Also supported on this crossbar 2 is a meniher 34 having one endturned up, as at 35, to

' driven; Suitably secure engage a kerf'in the hub of clutch cup 32, asshown best in Fig. 3. The clutch cone 31 is provided on its innersurface, with .a. plurality of projections .37 adapted to hold in placea plurality of wood or other suitable blocks 38. Preferably these blocksare of the clutch cup 32 is a cross bar 39 whic l tion on the member 31,of which they, in recarries a crank pin which latter passes through andis secured in a pit-man 41, by means of which the tub is oscillated, aswill be understood by reference to Fig. 1. Reference to Fig. 4 will showthat screws" are provided for holding the blocks 38 in posiality,constitute a part.

also to point out that with myconst'ruction To throw the clutch out ofoperation there is provided a handle 42 secured to ashaft 43 which hasadjacent its lower end a crank.

arm 44 to which is secured a link 45, another portion of this link-beingsecuredtolever 28 as shown in Fig? 2. Any suitable means is provided forholding the crank 42 and shaft 43 from rotation under the influence ofspring 30-. It will be seen that by reason ofthis locking means theclutch parts can be kept o -t of engagement when desired, and that w enit is'desiredto start the machine the clutch can be thrown in asslowlyasdesired, the spring '30 resiliently holding the clutch membersin engagement.

It is obvious that if the clutch is thrown in slowly the machine willstart up without any jerking or jolting whatever, but I wish havingdrivigg it is possible to throw the clutchlin quickly,

without any particular attention thereto,

and'thatno disagreeable jolting or jerking of the machine will result. Ishould perha s.

state that if desired the cross bar 39 may e formed as a cover plate sothat member 31 is entirely cove ed over and enclosed, though this is not0 nsidered necessary.

- It is of course understood that the specific descript-ion'of astructure set forth above may be departed from without departing fromthe spirit of my invent-ion as set forth inv this specification and theappended claims. I Having now described my 1nvent1on, I

claim:

1'. In amachineof the. character described,

means and driven means, a clutch adapt to connect sa1d means, saidclutch comprlsmg acup member, a cross bar secured; to the cup member, acrank pinfixed to the cross bar, a cone member in the cup memberandico-operable therewith fori clutching operation, a driving shaftsecured to the cone member, and means for shifting the cone member andthe shaft, forclutching and unclu-tching the cu and cone members.

In a device of the c aracter described, a

,.drii e shaft and a driven element, a clutch adapted to comiectsaidjshaft and element, said clutch comprising a cup-member havi'ng aconical inner surface, a cooperative clutch member on said drive shaftand concentrically within said cup member and provided on its face withwooden blocks impregnated withtallow, said blocks having tapered edgesurfacescooperating with thevv conical inner surface of said cup memberfor the clutching operation, and means for shifting said drive shaftendwise' for clutching and unclutching said cup andiclutch I member. m

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name tothis'speclfieationlWILLIAM H. vo'ss.

